North Florida Rings in New Year Against Austin Peay

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida opens the 2025 season and the Atlantic Sun slate Thursday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. from the UNF Arena. It's the second time UNF has opened conference play against Austin Peay, with the first coming on New Year's Eve back in 2022.

GAME DETAILS
Who | North Florida vs. Austin Peay
What | First Atlantic Sun Game of 2025
When | Thursday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m.

Where | UNF Arena
Coverage | ESPN+
Live Stats | sidearmstats.com

Projected Starters
Sophomore, Guard | Jaylen Smith
Senior, Guard | Oscar Berry
Sophomore, Guard | Jasai Miles
Senior, Guard | Nate Lliteras
Freshman, Forward | Josh Harris

Coach Driscoll on The Upcoming Game
"We ring out the old and bring in the new tomorrow with the start of the New Year and conference play. The 2024 non-conference slate ended up being our second-best overall record in 16 years, while also posting an opening week that we don't believe has ever been done in our level of college basketball. However, we know like last year, yesterday is history. What matters now is what lies ahead of us, which is the beginning of Atlantic Sun Conference play beginning with Austin Peay at the UNF Arena's CSI Companies Court. We're excited to open up conference play with Austin Peay with a healthy and prepared squad. The Governors have suffered from having a number of key contributors missing games due to injuries, although they are now whole again and ready to compete. Austin Peay plays a very physical style of basketball with dominant interior scoring from their forwards and several guards that can get downhill and attack the rim, draw fouls and convert from three-point range. They like to "muddy the waters" defensively so to speak, changing their pressures and schemes to try and steer you off your spots. It's go time!"

Last Time Out
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball (7-6) wrapped up the non-conference slate with a tough test against No. 7 Florida (12-0), falling to the unbeaten Gators, 99-45, Saturday, Dec. 21.

Scouting the Opponent
Austin Peay comes into play 5-8 … prior to Austin Peay's win against Brescia, APSU had lost six-straight games, falling to Vanderbilt, Ohio, Southern Illinois, Samford, ETSU and UT Arlington … LJ Thomas has been a standout for Austin Peay this season, scoring 18.3 points per game … the Governors advanced to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Semifinals a season ago, narrowly edging the Ospreys in overtime during the quarterfinals … Austin Peay ranks 313th in the nation in the bench points per game … the Governors get to the line often, posting the second-most free throws made per game in the league … Isaac Haney shoots 86.1 percent from the line to pace the league.

Series History
UNF and Austin Peay have played some neck-and-neck games in recent history, especially since the two teams became Atlantic Sun foes … each of the last five games have been decided by five points or less … three of those games have gone to overtime … both of last year's meetings went to a minimum of overtime, with the Feb. 3 meeting going to double overtime … this is the first meeting at UNF since Dec. 31, 2022 when North Florida won, 90-85.

Non-Conference Recap
North Florida finished the non-conference slate, 7-6, with two of those wins coming against Power Four teams … North Florida matched its entire win total against P4 teams in just one week to start off the season … UNF was tabbed NCAA Team of the Week as a result after adding in a dominant 90-66 win against Charleston Southern … it was UNF's best start through non-conference play since playing to an 11-6 mark in non-conference play back in 2015-16.

Atop the League
UNF ranks first in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.51), assists per game (16.9), fastbreak points per game (11.62), rebounds per game (38), scoring offense (84.6), three-pointers per game (13.2) and bench points per game (27.85) … UNF still leads the nation in three-point attempts per game and three-pointers pre game.

Atlantic Sun Awards
Josh Harris, Jaylen Smith and Jasai Miles have all earned all-league honors so far this season … Harris was tabbed as ASUN Newcomer of the Week, while Smith and Miles have both earned their first-career all-league honors.

Just the Fourth Time Ever
Miles' 30-point and 11-rebound performance against Georgia Southern was just the fourth-ever 30-point and 10-board performance in UNF history, and the first since Carter Hendricksen did so in 2023 at Central Arkansas.

Smith Taking the Reigns
Jaylen Smith has taken the reigns at the point position and dished out a conference-leading 78 assists this season … his 2.23 assist/turnover ratio also leads the league, as does his six/assists per game average.

Dishing Out Dimes
North Florida went for a DI-era program record 33 assists against Edward Waters … the Ospreys scored 20 three-pointers in the win, one shy of a program record … sophomore guard Jaylen Smith had nine assists in the win.

History at UNF
North Florida's start to the 2024-25 has been a historic one, with the Ospreys earning their first-ever wins against an SEC foe and ACC foe in the same week. UNF's Power Four victories in the opening week matched the program's all-time record for wins against Power Four programs. Thanks to the wins against South Carolina and Georgia Tech, along with a 24-point win against Charleston Southern, North Florida earned 14 votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, a first for the Ospreys. North Florida also earned a spot at No. 10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll … UNF's 3-0 start is its best to begin a season since 2015-16 … North Florida is the first-ever team to defeat two Power Five teams on the road in opening weekend.

Freshman Phenom
Freshman Josh Harris has put his abilities on display early on in the season … the forward notched 23 points against Charleston Southern and poured in 22 at Georgia Tech. His 16.3 points per game scoring average was the highest by any UNF freshman in the program's DI era through three games. He also broke the 20-point marker ahead of any previous UNF freshman during that era. His 23-point game against Charleston Southern was the most by a UNF freshman since Wajid Aminu had 24 in 2016 … Nov. 29 he added 20 points and nine boards at SIUE.

The Familiar Faces
North Florida men's basketball returns five players, all of which started the majority of last year's games or have been a starter throughout their collegiate career … Nate Lliteras started the most games among all returners, tallying 31 starts in 31 contests while averaging 10.4 points per game, the most among returning players … Jaylen Smith was thrust into the starting point guard position last year after junior guard Ametri Moss suffered a season-ending injury at the start of league play … the lefty guard out of Ocoee, Fla., went on to earn all-freshman honors from the conference … Oscar Berry is the most veteran Osprey in the Navy and Gray this year, having played two years with UNF after starting out his collegiate career at Fairleigh-Dickinson … after making his first collegiate start not far from home in Coral Gables last December, now-sophomore Jasai Miles returns after making 19 starts and averaging 5.7 points per game.

Rundown on the Newcomers
UNF's roster features eight newcomers, not including redshirt-freshman Mason Lee who sat last year out after joining UNF from nearby Providence School of Jacksonville … four are true freshmen, including Josh Harris, Arden Begaj, Taylor Thompson and Dante Oliver … the other four newcomers bring in significant experience as transfers, two of which have already earned degrees in Liam Murphy and Nestor Dyachok … Murphy put up 12 points and seven boards a game at Columbia as a freshman, while Dyachok scored over nine points per game for Southern Utah … Alex Vargo joins the Ospreys by way of Garrett College, scoring over 26 points per game while lighting up Southern Maryland for 47 in a single contest … he started his collegiate career at Youngstown State after scoring 1,634 points at Wheeling Park HS … sharpshooter Kamrin Oriol comes back to his home state of Florida after earning league freshman of the year honors in 2022-23 … he was named conference player of the week once last season.

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Players Mentioned

Arden Begaj

Oscar Berry

Nestor Dyachok

Josh Harris

Mason Lee

Nate Lliteras

Jasai Miles

Ametri Moss

Liam Murphy

Dante Oliver

Kamrin Oriol

Jaylen Smith

Taylor Thompson

Alex Vargo

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